User Reviews

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
patcheng
a AudioPhile

Date Reviewed: July 14, 2011

Bottom Line:

I bought this ampliifer second hand, as advised by a friend. I had been using a new model budget amplifier, but the sound was rather flat and veiled. When I expressed my frustration, my friend urged me to try an old school British style amplifier, and this was one of the better ones.

When I first saw the amp and turned it on, I was struck by the attention to detail and superb build quality. It looks like no expense was spared in making a high quality amplifier. The knob and switches were of high quality and the sold feel and response is something rarely found in modern budget amps.

When plugged it in and turned it on, I could hear the difference immediately. The sound is detailed and music is reproduced in a lively manner. The superb power supply design has resulted in a considerable amount of clean straightforward power being available, providing the same consistent clean sound whatever the volume setting. The stereo image remains spacious, detailed and rock steady at all times and at all levels.

It comes with 2 sets of speaker terminals, the first for the purist, a Direct pair of terminals always connected to the amplifier, intended to ensure maximum signal integrity as there are no intervening switches. The amplifier also has a headphone socket which is switched to a second set of loudspeaker outputs, to cater to those who want the convenience of having the speaker output cut off when the headphones are in use. Rotel has added tone controls to the RA960BX, but they provided a bypass switch to ensure signal purity. The loudspeaker terminals are the usual 4mm/binding post combinations. The amplifier is surprisingly heavy due to the large custom-built toroidal transformer. The amplifier is thoughtfully designed and excellently constructed, with symmetrical circuit paths.

I have throughly enjoyed this amplifier and from what I can see it will last for many years.